The MeerKLASS L-band On-the-Fly Continuum Survey: Data Release 1

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Mangla, Sarvesh, Mohr, Joseph J., Rozgonyi, Kristof, Chatterjee, Suman, Grainge, Keith, Paul, Sourabh, Santos, Mario G., Perrott, Yvette, Smirnov, Oleg M., Tasse, Cyril, Wolz, Laura
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866914210523381760
author Mangla, Sarvesh
Mohr, Joseph J.
Rozgonyi, Kristof
Chatterjee, Suman
Grainge, Keith
Paul, Sourabh
Santos, Mario G.
Perrott, Yvette
Smirnov, Oleg M.
Tasse, Cyril
Wolz, Laura
author_facet Mangla, Sarvesh
Mohr, Joseph J.
Rozgonyi, Kristof
Chatterjee, Suman
Grainge, Keith
Paul, Sourabh
Santos, Mario G.
Perrott, Yvette
Smirnov, Oleg M.
Tasse, Cyril
Wolz, Laura
contents The MeerKAT Large Area Synoptic Survey (MeerKLASS) collaboration has acquired multiple passes of L-band (856-1712 MHz) scanning observations over a 268 deg$^2$ sky region. This scanning enables efficient, large-area sky surveys by continuously scanning the MeerKAT array back and forth at fixed elevation while recording data at 2 sec intervals, progressively covering the survey region as the Earth rotates. We employ a novel on-the-fly (OTF) interferometric imaging technique to construct continuum images and catalogs from 16 hours of scan data. These data products, constituting the first MeerKLASS L-band data release (DR1), consist of high-fidelity radio continuum images and a catalogue of 34,874 radio sources detected with a SNR$>$9. The resulting Stokes I images achieve a median noise level of 33 $μ$Jy\,beam$^{-1}$ and a median angular resolution of approximately $25.5''\times 7.8''$. Cross-comparisons with previous surveys confirm the consistency of our flux density scale within 5\% and astrometric precision within $1.5''$. Additionally, flux densities measured across the seven sub-bands enable in-band spectral-index estimates for the detected sources, providing insights into their physical properties and the broader source population. We compute the differential source counts, finding good agreement with existing measurements and validating our end-to-end processing. This data release demonstrates the effectiveness of scanning surveys when combined with OTF interferometric imaging. Commensal intensity mapping and interferometric imaging offers a dramatic enhancement of survey science per invested hour of observations and could therefore be an appealing option for next generation facilities like SKA-Mid.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_17685
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The MeerKLASS L-band On-the-Fly Continuum Survey: Data Release 1
Mangla, Sarvesh
Mohr, Joseph J.
Rozgonyi, Kristof
Chatterjee, Suman
Grainge, Keith
Paul, Sourabh
Santos, Mario G.
Perrott, Yvette
Smirnov, Oleg M.
Tasse, Cyril
Wolz, Laura
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The MeerKAT Large Area Synoptic Survey (MeerKLASS) collaboration has acquired multiple passes of L-band (856-1712 MHz) scanning observations over a 268 deg$^2$ sky region. This scanning enables efficient, large-area sky surveys by continuously scanning the MeerKAT array back and forth at fixed elevation while recording data at 2 sec intervals, progressively covering the survey region as the Earth rotates. We employ a novel on-the-fly (OTF) interferometric imaging technique to construct continuum images and catalogs from 16 hours of scan data. These data products, constituting the first MeerKLASS L-band data release (DR1), consist of high-fidelity radio continuum images and a catalogue of 34,874 radio sources detected with a SNR$>$9. The resulting Stokes I images achieve a median noise level of 33 $μ$Jy\,beam$^{-1}$ and a median angular resolution of approximately $25.5''\times 7.8''$. Cross-comparisons with previous surveys confirm the consistency of our flux density scale within 5\% and astrometric precision within $1.5''$. Additionally, flux densities measured across the seven sub-bands enable in-band spectral-index estimates for the detected sources, providing insights into their physical properties and the broader source population. We compute the differential source counts, finding good agreement with existing measurements and validating our end-to-end processing. This data release demonstrates the effectiveness of scanning surveys when combined with OTF interferometric imaging. Commensal intensity mapping and interferometric imaging offers a dramatic enhancement of survey science per invested hour of observations and could therefore be an appealing option for next generation facilities like SKA-Mid.
title The MeerKLASS L-band On-the-Fly Continuum Survey: Data Release 1
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.17685